Paul Allen Is a Proponent of Open Science Data, But You Need a Subscription to Find Out Why

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen argues in today's Wall Street Journal that scientific data should be open and free for all to access. He suggests that government agencies and private funders should consider a researcher's sharing track record before issuing grants or checks.

In 2003, Allen established the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which he says has since released hundreds of trillions of bytes of open source data along with free software applications for navigating them. Allen Institute scientists last year released an atlas of the whole human brain, and are now at work defining its neuron circuitry and connecting it to behavior. He says free access is accelerating research into diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, autism, and schizophrenia. Says Allen:

Early on, we considered charging commercial users for access to our online data. From a strictly financial standpoint, it made sense to reap front-end fees and, down the line, intellectual property royalties. The revenue could cover the high costs of maintenance and development to keep the resource current and useful. But our mission was to spark breakthroughs, and we didn't want to exclude underfunded neuroscientists who just might be the ones to make the next leap. And so we made all of our data free, with no registration required.

Ironically, a subscription is required to read Allen's opinion column in today's Wall Street Journal, Why We Chose "Open Science". But a tip from GeekWire: search Google News for "Paul Allen Open Science" to get a free pass.